Bloody Domination 2: Straitjacket

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Bloody Domination 2: Straitjacket

Co-Written by Harley Quinn hyenaholic and Froggy22651

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Harley: Well, Disaster Master is welcome to leave whenever he she or it wants, they’ll only miss out on more male/male sex, and plot stuff.

Froggy: I bet you’ve all been wondering what Knuckles has been getting up to lately. Well, this chapter clarifies things for you, and also goes back to the roots of good old sucker Knuckles.

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Chapter Eleven: Angry and Easily Swayed

In the blue sky, among the cloud, the floating landmass of Angel Island moved through the heavens. A remote paradise containing the ruins of the once-mighty civilization of the echidnas, it now only had one inhabitant. The crimson guardian of the island and the great Master Emerald on it sat on the altar of the emerald with his legs crossed and his eyes closed. He had been sitting there for hours, trying to meditate, trying to attain a state of peace and thoughtlessness. He focused on the sounds of the drifting wind, the trickle of water, the chirps of birds as they flew past the island. He felt the cold stone beneath him and the warm sun on his back, becoming one with the island. It was calm, quiet, peaceful.

But then he remembered pain. He remembered Shadow. He remembered the angry, accusing look that Sonic gave him as he walked away. Crying out in frustration, Knuckles leapt to his feet and screamed at the sky in rage. Turning, he viciously kicked the Master Emerald and kept doing it until his foot ached. In pain, he then just settled for yelling obscenities at the glowing rock.

"Upset?" somebody asked him. He turned. Eggman was just stepping out of his Egg-O-Matic, "You must be. You didn't even hear me coming. No, no, I'm not here to cause trouble today," he said, as Knuckles prepared to fight, "After what Shadow did to you... a terrible thing... truly horrific. And the others, of course."

"What do you know about what happened?!" the echidna shouted at his long-time enemy, remembering the humiliation of being tricked by the doctor. Twice. Or was it three times now? Maybe four... He wasn't going to be fooled again. He had learned his lesson that Eggman was bad news.

"A considerable amount," Eggman said, "I know that he... degraded you, and that he broke the Master Emerald, defeated Chaos Zero and raped Tikal. And you've been all alone ever since."

"You know nothing about being alone!" Knuckles snapped angrily, stomping towards the rotund scientist, "If you don't get off my island right now, I swear..."

"Shadow survived," Eggman interrupted him.

"I’ll... what?" Knuckles halting in his tracks, blinking, "What do you mean he survived? I shot him! He's dead! I saw him die!"

"But he survived," Eggman continued, "I can't believe your good friend Sonic didn't tell you that!" He put on what he thought was his 'sympathetic' expression, although in fact it made him look as if he had just suffered a painful bowel movement.

"...You're lying!” Knuckles shouted, "Sonic would tell me if something like that happened!" But then he remembered Sonic's expression, him saying that he never wanted to see him again, and the pain that had shot through his heart as surely as any bullet. The seed of doubt had been planted.

"Yes, Shadow survived," Eggman said, enjoying Knuckles' expression of doubt, "He was put into a maximum security mental asylum and monitored by GUN. And it's likely he would have been trapped there forever. Unfortunately... he has escaped."

Instantly, Knuckles slammed a fist into the palm of his other hand, "Where is he?! I'll crush him!" the red echidna snarled, his vision clouding over with rage.

"He is now with Sonic," Eggman said, "Sonic helped him escape. Sonic hid him from GUN. Even now he is slowly recovering his strength. With Sonic's help."

Knuckles stood in shock, his mouth dropping open, "No..." he uttered, "That can't be right. Look at what Shadow did to us! How could he?"

"He has forgiven Shadow for everything he did," Eggman replied, "Even what he did to you. He thinks Shadow has repented, but you and I... we know him better."

"He'll hurt Sonic again,” Knuckles whispered, shaking in anger and his voice rising, "He'll hurt everyone again. He'll come after me again! Well not this time. This time I'm taking him down for good!"

"But you'll need my help," Eggman said, "I can't take down Shadow. I daresay Sonic could, but he doesn't want to. Amy and Tails are too weak. So, you are the only hope for your friends. Here, take this," he handed Knuckles a bracelet, "This will allow you to locate Shadow. Even though he doesn't currently have a Chaos Emerald."

Looking curiously at the bracelet, toying with it, Knuckles asked, "It tracks emerald energy?"

"Um..." Eggman hesitated. Because it didn't. In fact, the device tracked a microchip he had implanted in Shadow some time ago, but he'd rather Knuckles didn't ask complicated questions about that, "Sure, why not?"

"Alright. I'll use this thing to track Shadow down, and then I'll pulverize him!" Knuckles pumped his fist again, his face contorted in anger, "...that's what you had in mind, right?"

“Yes,” Eggman said, “But do contact me regularly. I want to know where you are, where he is, and how you are progressing.” If Knuckles had been more perceptive, he would have realised that by doing this, he would essentially be working for Eggman.

"I'll do it,” the echidna declared, nodding towards the deranged scientist, "Shadow's too dangerous to live, and he's just going to betray Sonic." Knuckles pointed a gloved hand at Eggman, adding, "But don't think this makes us friends! I still want you off this island!"

"Of course, of course, I know when I'm not wanted," Eggman said calmly, heading back to the Egg-O-Matic, "Good luck, Guardian," he smirked.

"Don't need it,” the guardian responded with a grim smirk. He was sure he could handle Shadow the Hedgehog. Sonic would be the harder one to get past...

Eggman couldn’t help but laugh as the Egg-O-Matic flew away. It was just too easy!

~~~

Shadow was lying awake and alert on the moss of the jungle floor. Behind him, Sonic was sleeping, his arms wrapped around the dark hedgehog's chest. Shadow sighed, one hand on top of Sonic's. He wanted to be alone, and yet... he didn't want to be alone. He hated Sonic, but what they had done together was so totally different from anything else he had ever felt. He hadn't slept at all. He sat up slowly, disentangling himself from Sonic's arms, and stared across the jungle. It would be so easy to leave now. Sonic would never find him. He'd be alone again...

"Or you could kill him," his shadow told him with a smirk. He tried to ignore it.

Sonic murmured and stirred in his sleep, unconsciously searching for the absent Shadow. The blue hedgehog curled up and was quiet again.

Shadow sighed again and looked back at Sonic. Part of him wanted to leave, part of him wanted to stay, and there was that wretched, infernal voice in his head telling him to kill Sonic right now. He rested one hand lightly on Sonic's side, stroking gently, "I don't need your help," he said softly, "I don't need you." But he couldn't bring himself to prove those statements by leaving while he had the chance.

Sonic stirred again, slowly opening his emerald eyes and stretching out with a noisy yawn. Blinking, the blue hedgehog looked up at Shadow, and a smile spread over his face, "G'morning, Shadow,” he mumbled.

"Humph," Shadow grunted, pulling his hand away from Sonic, "I can't stay in one place," he said, "Tails and Amy know where we are. One or both of them is likely to go to GUN with the information, if GUN hasn't already tracked me. If you're coming, we should get moving now."

Sonic yawned again and sat up, rubbing his eyes. "Relax,” he told the dark hedgehog, "We're in the middle of the jungle. GUN is gonna have one heck of a time finding us here," Sonic then gave a hard glance at Shadow, "And my friends aren't going to tell GUN anything."

"Then you don't have to come with me," Shadow replied, "I'm not waiting here for somebody to catch up with me. A moving target is harder to hit, as you know. I may have no money, food or equipment, hell, I don't even have my own gloves and shoes, but I do have some common sense," He turned away from Sonic and began to walk away, "This is me," he said, fighting the urge to look back, "I'm leaving. You can go home now."

Sonic blinked and watched as Shadow started to walk, at first not believing his eyes. His cheery expression hardened into something much less. A flash of blue and a gust of wind later, and Sonic was standing in front of Shadow, his arms crossed and his eyes narrowed.

"What now?" Shadow asked, exasperated. He didn't like the idea of leaving Sonic, but he couldn't stay in one place. It wasn't safe.

"Nice to see you, too,” Sonic grumbled, obviously irritated by his companion, "Come on, then. Let's get moving."

They started walking through the jungle. Shadow had sighted on the mountains in the distance and was walking in a straight line, "I'm sorry-" he stopped. Had he just apologised? And for what? "What did I do anyway?" he asked Sonic.

"Stop telling me to leave,” Sonic replied, walking alongside the dark hedgehog, eyes fixed forward. He was irritated by Shadow, frustrated by his continued attitude, even after what they did hours earlier.

"Oh, that," Shadow said, "I just... it's just... you are so damn annoying. You always do the complete opposite of what I tell you to do. I figured if I keep telling you to leave, you'll stay just to annoy me, only I want you to stay but I don't, and..." he trailed off, confused and dismayed at his inability to voice how he felt.

Sonic glanced over at Shadow, the hard expression softening as he heard this. The blue hedgehog smirked and nudged the other with his elbow, "It's alright!" he said, "I'm glad you're still here, too."

Shadow smiled a little, "Everything's changed so much," he said, "Even before, I felt trapped from the voices by my head. For the first time in... in what feels like all my life… I feel free."

Sonic's smile grew wider, "Feels great, doesn't it?" he asked of Shadow, walking with a bounce to his step. He, of course, felt free all the time. It was his life philosophy.

Shadow nodded, "I don't think I've ever felt... really free," he said, "It takes some getting used to."

Sonic tried to imagine what it must be like to live your life as a prisoner, and failed. He remembered a story about an old man who had been imprisoned all his life for some crime or another. And he had watched the birds fly in and out of the window in his cell and they had eaten his food and crapped on his bedding and been a nuisance, but he'd smiled and tolerated them and just watched. It had never seemed important before, but for whatever reason, it now seemed to apply to Shadow very well.

"You're going to love it,” he assured Shadow, patting his companion on the back. Unstated was the 'if we can ever get GUN to stop chasing you'. That was going to be the hard part.

Shadow nodded again, this time with a small smile, "Maria... Maria was always telling me how beautiful Earth is," he said eventually, "When I got here, at first I thought she was mistaken, but now I know that she was right."

"It's a cool place to be,” Sonic agreed wholeheartedly, "It's not as bad as some people make it out to be, really. It's why I fight against Eggman. He would turn this, all of this, into some ugly contraption of his," The blue hedgehog spread his arms, gesturing to the living jungle around them.

"Sonic," Shadow tried to find the right words, "I-"

"Now's your chance. Kill him now," said his shadow. Shadow froze up and whipped around. The voice was louder than before, more insistent... and this time there was no room with a lock, "Or you could just beat him senseless and fuck him. After all, you do enjoy being close to him..." it snickered, "He'd probably enjoy it."

"No! Not again..." Shadow moaned.

"Did you say something?" Sonic asked, turning around to face the other hedgehog, who wasn't looking so good, "Something wrong, Shades?"

"Fuck him. It's what you always intended to do," his shadow ordered him. Gentle and cajoling at first, it became angrier, and almost painful as he resisted, "Do it! Now!"

"Sonic... get out of here..." Shadow moaned, "Run!" But he knew Sonic wouldn't leave... idiot... He clamped his hands over his ears, "Shut up, shut up, shut up, please shut up!"

It was the voice again. It had to be, and it was telling Shadow to do something horrible again. Shadow was just trying to protect Sonic, but Sonic was never one to run away. Nodding, he did the exact opposite thing Shadow asked him to. Namely, he walked towards him. Nearing the dark hedgehog, Sonic reached out and grabbed him by the ears, yanking his face towards his own and stared into his crimson eyes, "Hey, you! I know you're in there, and I'm getting really tired of this! You better leave Shadow alone, or else!"

"Do it! Torture him! Rape him! Kill him!" the voice in Shadow's head became gentle and persuasive again, "It's not your fault, after all. He always says it's not your fault. Nobody can blame you. And besides, he dropped you."

"No! He didn't drop me! He didn't!" Shadow gritted his teeth, "He didn't, he didn't..." He felt as if his insides were boiling within him, and his head burned with fighting it, "Did he? NO! HE DIDN'T!"

"I'll leave you alone if you hurt him, I promise..." the voice said, "He wants me to leave, but I won't leave until you hurt him, so he wants you to hurt him. It's all for the best, really..."

"No... please don't make me..." Shadow mumbled, "Don't make me do it..."

Sonic watched the conflict through Shadow's eyes, the pain and struggle and indecision. His threat was a rather empty one, seeing as he couldn't hurt that evil little voice without hurting Shadow too, but he knew that Shadow could beat it with a little help. Sonic smirked, "Don't you know who you're messing with?" he asked the voice, "The Fastest Thing Alive and the Ultimate Lifeform! We don't have to listen to you! Right, Shadow?" Without giving him a chance to respond, Sonic closed those final couple of inches and lightly kissed Shadow's lips.

Shadow blinked. It was as if a fog had been lifted from his eyes, "I don't want to hurt you..." he said quietly, but then his voice grew stronger, "I won't hurt you! No! I won't! I won't hurt him, I don't care if I have to listen to you forever, I won't!" And then it was over. Shadow's body went limp and he slumped forward into Sonic's arms. Clearly his inner battle wasn’t won yet, and Sonic knew just how easily it could have turned nasty... but for now, it was over.

Sonic wrapped his arms around his black-furred companion. "See?" he spoke into his ear, "You can beat this thing. I know you can."

Shadow nodded, "Thank you, Sonic," he whispered back. He wanted to be in Sonic’s arms forever... but eventually he straightened up again, "We have to keep moving," he said quietly, looking at his feet. They started walking again, "I need to get back my equipment. Wearing your stuff makes me feel... weird."

Sonic chuckled, "Looks weird, too. Not that my stuff isn't cool,” he explained, "It's just not your style."

"It's too... cheerful," Shadow said, "Besides, I'm used to my Jet Shoes. Don't know if I'll ever get them back though. Not now GUN has them."

"You didn't have any spares?" Sonic asked, "I mean, I would think the professor would have made you another pair, in case you broke those."

"Probably," Shadow admitted, "But they'd be way up on ARK. I don't even have a Chaos Emerald with me right now. And neither do you; I can tell."

"Er, well..." Sonic scratched between his quills on the back of his head, "I was going to bring one with me, but Eggman showed up, and, uh, I kinda had to improvise."

"That’s why I don't improvise," Shadow admonished him, "Without a Chaos Emerald I'm almost as pathetic as you." But Sonic could see the tiniest hint of a smile on the dark hedgehog's lips.

Sonic smirked back and chuckled, "Oh har har, Mister 'Chaos Control without a real Chaos Emerald is impossible'."

Shadow glared and punched him on the arm, "Yeah, well you didn't know that at the time did you? You'd be surprised at what you can do when you don't know you can't do it."

"Pessimist!" Sonic shot back as he walked alongside Shadow, arms crossed over his chest. The blue hedgehog was finding it impossible to keep a straight face.

"Idealist!" Shadow snapped straight back at him, a smirk on his face.

Sonic crossed his eyes and stuck his tongue out at his darker counterpart.

"Now I'm not sinking to that!" Shadow said, "You just do that because you can't think of anything better to say. Although you do look more attractive that way..." he smirked.

Sonic laughed and made more funny faces at the dark hedgehog playfully. Although Shadow did have a point, and he had run out of things to say... but there was no need to tell him that.

Shadow on the other hand, maintained his steadfastly 'grim' expression, not reacting to Sonic's faces, and staring straight ahead, "You're not going to make me laugh," he said, "Nobody makes me laugh. That's doomsday fodder."

Sonic continued sticking his tongue out and jammed his thumbs in his ears, waggling his fingers, determined to break Shadow's grim expression.

~~~

The jungle foliage parted slowly and quietly as the guardian moved slowly and stealthily through it. The band on his wrist pulsed steadily, telling him that his quarry was in this direction. His other senses, honed by life in the wilds of Angel Island, told him what path the hedgehogs had taken. He followed their footsteps and broken branches, hunting them down easily.

Something up ahead, though, made the echidna pause: there was a small spot hidden in the jungle where the plant life had been flattened as if by a laying body. Curious, Knuckles made his way in that direction, violet eyes narrowing. Crouching down just outside the spot, he lightly brushed his gloved hand through the squashed grass. He found bits of fur in the grass: black, red, and blue.

Judging from the state of the plants, what happened wasn't gentle. There was a struggle. The scent of both hedgehogs was strong and lingering. Dipping his hand into a moist spot, he brought it up to his nose and sniffed. Blood… and semen. Knuckles' face contorted in rage, and his hands closed into tight fists.

The echidna gave a deep, feral growl his vision clouded over red. "Sonic…" he rasped, "What did he do to you?" It was a question that didn't need asked. In his mind, he knew exactly what happened, what that monster, Shadow, had done. And he would pay for it dearly.

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Harley: Next chapter it starts freezing on down. But in the meantime, read and review!